My car was hit on the driver's side door and the.

JLCMAINE

MEMBER
1993 VOLVO 940
18,900 MILES

My car was hit on the driver's side door and the window shattered and the door was dented. The impact was at about 15 mph but made a big dent. Thanks to Volvo I'm fine. So I bought a door from a junk yard for about $200 and had my mechanic shop to replace the door. Labor took about 4.5 hours. When I went to pick up the car the ping of the key in the ignition would not go off. So back in the shop for 1/2 hour. When it came out, the door locks don't lock the car from inside and the key locks the doors but will only unlock the driver's side. The clock and the radio now do not work. After the accident everything worked except that the driver's side door and a large dent and the window shattered. I feel they don't know what they are doing in reconnecting the door. So they are trying to tell me that the new door has problems. However they are only using the shell/window/mouldings and the innerds are the old door. They seem to fix one thing and bring it back into the shop and break something else. Do you think they don't have a clue about the electric. I would think they have a schematic of the electrical for this model. So, car only locks with key, not from inside, car only opens driver side door with key, not other locks in car, radio and clock don't work. What do you think?

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,741 POSTS

Sounds like at some point some wires touched and a fuse blew. You also have to understand there are going to be computers involved in all of what you mentioned, where computers were never needed before. Some things may need to be programmed by the dealer. Your description also suggests a linkage could be disconnected in the driver's door that operates a lock switch. Very few car models unlock all the doors with the key from the outside. Why would you want to let unsavory people have access to your car when you want to get in?

Any car can survive a 15 mph crash. I saw a Dodge Shadow get hit in the driver's door by a heavy '88 Monte Carlo going 35 mph, and the interior trim panel never got touched. The only injury was a bad bump to the head. Those were some really tough cars, especially compared to the flimsy model that replaced it.